Sebastian of Mars Read Free Page A

Ones?”
    “Of course!” I said brightly. I pointed
across the room to a table where some of my crude modeling attempts
lay. One of them was a diorama of an abandoned valley I had seen in
a picture, dominated by a stand of ancient structures, decrepit
buildings and a series of towering smokestacks.
    Newton gave a cursory glance at my handiwork
and looked back at me with a wry grin. “Yes. You are aware. Well,
we may need to rejuvenate those complexes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because Mars is losing its atmosphere. It is
leaking into space like a pinprick in a child’s balloon. No, that’s
not quite accurate. Think rather of our atmosphere as a giant
balloon, and millions of pinpricks letting our precious oxygen
out.”
    “Well, then, we will get the oxygenation
stations working again!”
    “It is not that simple, Sebastian. You see,
we don’t quite know how.”
    “What!” This came as a great shock to me.
“But you can do anything, Newton!”
    His wry smile returned. “I’m no magician. The
fact is, we’ve been studying these structures for years, and have
only begun to understand them in a rudimentary sense. The Old Ones
were far more advanced than we are, if no wiser. You must remember,
Sebastian, that most of our science, including the recent advent of
powered airships, was gleaned from the leavings of those ancient
creatures. Electricity, motor propulsion, energy production from
water dams and aquifers – all of it.” His face darkened. “Even the
recent horror weapons were gleaned from hints and artifacts the Old
Ones left behind.”
    He must have seen the crestfallen look on my
face – after all, he was a hero to me, infallible and in many ways
a father figure – for he brightened and said: “And so, that is the
bad news! I promised you magnificent news, too, and you shall have
it. We have continued our work on the new engines, and think that
one day in the not too distant future, we may be able to attain
space.”
    I nearly jumped from my cushion. “Space! This
has been my dream since I was a kit!” I pointed again to my work
table, where various crude rocket ships lay in various states of
completion. Most of them were from the popular press.
    Newton walked to the table and picked up a
particular model, made from carved junto wood, a sleek thing with
fins and a tapered nose. He held it up to the light and studied it.
“This is not so far from the truth,” he said. “Where did you get
it?”
    “I built it from a picture I saw in a
publication.”
    “Curious . . .” Newton said, frowning.
    “Is there something wrong?”
    He turned his attention to me. He smiled, but
it looked forced. “Of course not. May I borrow this?”
    “You may keep it!” I said.
    Idly, he dropped it into his tunic pocket and
again approached my bedside. He did not sit down.
    “So,” he said, “You have your toy, and I have
mine. You will continue to study the heavens until we next
meet?”
    I held up his gift. “Of course! And when you
return –”
    He anticipated me. “I will bring your
telescope. And you and I will study Earth and the stars
together!”
    “Hurrah!”
    Newton laughed, and then grew abruptly
somber. He scratched his chin and sat down heavily on the
stool.
    “There is much I worry about, Sebastian,” he
said. “I fear for your safety, and for the future of the world your
mother died to insure. You are so young, and I fear a great burden
will fall on your shoulders before you are ready for it. Perhaps I
shouldn’t say this to one so young, but beware almost everyone
around you.”
    “Even Xarr, and Thomas?”
    “They are both good men. Xarr I would trust
with my life, and yours, too. But Thomas is young, and picked to do
a young man’s job. And as for the rest . . .” He scratched his chin
again, looking over my head at nothing at all. “I wish that I did
not have to go back to the west, but I must. So let me leave you
with this thought to ponder: No matter what happens, I want you
never to